Our "Sea Daddy", Chief Franklin advanced to Chief Gunner's Mate January 16, 1969
More fire power than 6 destroyers!
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Faris Antoon upper left, Larson U.R.. Steve Brichford center front. And others whose names escape me
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Bill Geraghty, Bill Cayford, Ron Lovelace, and Steve Brichford with 50 cal machine gun mount. Remember those sound powered phones..
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360 Yen for a Dollar. Buy your favorite and even a mixer. Check it in. Chat with friends. Deal with hangover. L to R Bill C., RIP, Bob Card, and SUDS circa 1969
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We hope you're having a good life, Fred. Note the correct spelling MCKAY, not MACKAY
Biff, Lenny, and ....png
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Can't think of the other guy's name in the background, can you?
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Capt. Jordan trying out a weapon. Woody Sweeney(SF2) is standing at the railing. I hear Woodrow got a job in security at the Charleston Naval Base after his military retirement. He is almost ready to retire from there. Anyone care to locate him and see if he wants to join our group?
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Hung up with mooring lines fore and aft, this sinking Swift Boat had just been ambushed by Viet Cong - February 10, 1969.
Saved Swift boat from sinking
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Swift boat had been in a Viet Cong ambush and received holes at the water line near the bow. Taking in water, it barely made it along side to tie up. We rendered assistance with a pump, tools, and plugs. See the water hose discharging near the starboard stern. It later departed on its own power. The water here was brown, as this occurred around the south west side of the country.
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Duffy and Castillo Dec 68.
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What a sense of humor Mike Duffy had. He told us about all his favorite comic book characters, and his boyhood growing up in New York with RIP.
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Tom, I hear you were assigned to this mount a little before I was. You certainly left it A-1 condition. There was another Gunner named Tow and another named Meuller who I remember was working on it when I reported aboard in March '68. I worked with Tom Kail on it until decommisioning in May '70. It wasn't fired much except once when we fired over 130 rounds. Blistered the paint right off the barrel!! I made several ash tray souveniers from the spent casings. Woody Sweeney loaned me his hacksaw. I wish you peace and strength in battling with your illness. Bill C.
Tom Swanick's Gun Mount '65-'68
Ryan and others including Chaney dutifully cleared many misfired rockets.
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Some of the second division gang. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any names I missed in "photo comments" and I will update. L to R top: Antoon, Geraghty, Franklin, Schmidt, Lovelace, ?1, Ringate, ?2, Mayberry, Boyd, Ryan, Bowers, Biggs, ?3, Hood. L to R front: Cayford, Birchford, Hurtabese, Springborg, and ?4.
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Ship's corpsman Chief George Yonemura annd Captain Jordan helped me get shore duty in Cam Rahn Bay's Naval Base hospital, then armory to rehab my broken right foot. It was crushed by a 65# MK 10 that slid through some hands in hatch by launcher 5 on the (starboard side) while I was waiting below to pass a rocket to the next sailor who was also waiting. While at the armory, I learned a lot about the "modern" small arms of the time vs WW2 MK 1 Springfields and tommy guns of the WR. Also met Jimmy Stewart and his wife when they stopped by the armory,
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One of the sailors who liked to play hearts. Photo comments?
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The following was a story in "All Hands" magazine. "The mightiest ships in the Navy -- in terms of what they can throw at the enemy, are also the smallest. The 245-foot Inshore Fire Support Ship (IFS) and 205-foot Medium Landing Ship, Rocket (LSMR) types are only two-thirds the size of a tank landing ship, (LST), but each has the firepower of six destroyers. They are floating platforms for rapid fire, solid-fuel rocket launchers. Each ship's battery of eight twin tube launchers can send high-explosive five-inch rockets streaking for the enemy at a rate of 240 per minute. Originally designed to provide heavy firepower for anphibious assaults, the rocket ships found a new role in the Vietnamese fighting. They move close inshore to saturate enemy troops and installations with massive rocket barrages. They also steam to the rescue of Allied troops besieged in coastal areas. The rockets can be aimed to "walk" over a target or in a number of other destructive patterns."
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15 Feb 69 Loading rockets aboard USS White River - about 3,500 rounds
Part of the loadout drill was to turn the rockets around and install the fuse. Later, just before firing, the little screw on the fuse was turned 90 degrees to arm the fuse. Rockets weighed in at 65 lbs each. Bill C- Thanks for posting this one! What memories this one brings back! - John
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Remember salt water showers with fire nozzles? We had several swim calls. I had an air matress aboard that I bought on Ginza street in Yokosuka for that purpose. Better than hanging onto barrels. Notice Big "O" with the white Tee shirt.
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Left to Right. Rimell, Diamond, Cayford, the barrel, Boyd, and Ringate
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Excerpted from the "Amphibian" newspaper article dated April 11, 1969: "Occasionally White River pulls into Cam Rahn Bay to rearm, giving the crew a much-earned respite. This is usually only a brief rest, however, for there are 1,500 to 2,000 rockets which must be hand-loaded aboard the ship. To the sound of taped music coming from the White River's public address system, the 120-man crew turns to the task at hand, forming a relay chain to pass the heavy rockets from a waiting barge to the ship. After five to six hours of sweating under the hot sun of Vietnam and straining under the weight of the weapons, the crew's chore is completed and the White River once again heads for the gunline to deliver a dose of explosive medicine to the enemy."
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Chiefs John Myers, Charlie Brown and Jim Franklin did a lot of observing, coaching. This very rare occasion may actually show FTGC Myers passin a rocket, or maybe just observin awfully close.
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The results of a 65 lb rocket's blunt end landing on my foot afer sliding through the able hands of an unknown sailor from the main deck level when I wasn't expecting it.
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My encounter with my brother Bob as described in my "War letters to home" letter dated February 4, 1970
